1.1 Million Pakistani children missed their first measles vaccine (MCV1)

The the World Health Organization (WHO) and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that Pakistan is among the 10 low and middle-income countries where 22 million children missed their first measles vaccine dose last year.

Unfortunately, Pakistan is among the 10 countries – for the second consecutive year – with the highest number of infants who did not receive MCV1 (first dose of the measles-containing vaccine).Children everywhere have the right to be protected by the lifesaving measles vaccine, no matter where they live, WHO stated.

The 10 countries with the highest number of infants who did not receive MCV1 were Nigeria (3 million), Democratic Republic of the Congo (1.8 million), Ethiopia (1.7 million), India (1.1 million), Pakistan (1.1. million), Angola (0.8 million), Philippines (0.8 million), Indonesia (0.7 million), Brazil (0.5 million), and Madagascar (0.5 million). These 10 countries accounted for 55% of all children worldwide who did not receive MCV1.

Low-income countries, where the risk of death from measles is highest, continue to have the lowest vaccination rates at only 66pc – a rate that shows no recovery at all from the backsliding during the pandemic.

Measles is preventable with two doses of vaccine, however, around 33 million children missed a measles vaccine dose in 2022 — nearly 22 million missed the first dose and 11 million missed the second dose.

In 2019 there were over 207 000 measles deaths globally, and the highest number of reported cases in 23 years.Between 2000 and 2020, measles vaccination prevented an estimated 31.7 million deaths worldwide.